Process of constructing images and hollow articles.



A. THOMPSON. PROCESS OF GONSTRUGTING IMAGES AND HOLLOW ARTICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 26, 1910.

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ALFRED THOMPSON, OF ERIE, PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS OF CONSTRUGTING IMAGES AND HOLLOW ARTICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 7, 1911.

Application filed MarchZG, 1910. Serial No. 551,760.

lb all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED THOMPSON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Erie, in the county of Erie and State of Pennsylvania, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes ofConstructing Images and Hollow Articles; and I do hereby declare thefollowing to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention,such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon,forming part of thisspecification.

My invention relates to an improved process of manufacture of hollowimages and other hollow articles, and consists substantially in makingsuch articles, by first forming up a hollow inside shell, of plain orexpanded sheet metal, or woven wire, and then placing on the surfacethereof a layer or covering of suitable material of a plastic nature,the image being then either placed in a mold of suitable insideconfiguration for forming the surface of the finished article andsubjected to suitable pressure to properly shape the surface thereof, orthe surface may be otherwise shaped as may be deemed most desirable;after which it is allowed to dry and harden, and can then be painted andotherwise finished as desired.

In this manner I am enabled to construct an image of light weight and atthe same time one in which there will be a maximum of stability.

The features of my improved process are hereinafter fully set forth andexplained, and are illustrated in the accompanying draw ings in which:

Figure 1 is a view in elevation of an image (a hobby-horse) with partsbroken away, illustrating my improved process. Fig. 2 is a transversesection of the same, on the line :rm in Fig. 1.

In the accompanying drawings, I have shown the figure of a hobby-horseas illustrative of my improved process of constructing hollow images,and other hollow articles. In the construction of this image I press andform up sheet or expanded metal or woven wire in suitable dies intosections of the inside shell A of the body portion of the image,preferably making this inside shell A in four parts in order toconveniently secure the parts of the image together as herein afterdescribed. I then bring together the two half sections forming the rearhalf of the body portion B, and the two half sections forming the insideshell of the front half U and the head portion G, and secure these halfsections together by means of rivets Z) passing through out-turnedflanges 64 thereon, or in any other suitable manner. In making the legsD, D of this image, I press and form up sheet or other metal in suitabledies into longitudinal half sections of the inside shells E thereof,these half sections being preferably provided with a block F in-theupper ends thereof and bolts f, for subsequently securing the legs D Dto the body halves B and C. These halves of the inside shells E of thelegs D D are then secured together by means of rivets 0 through flangesc thereon, or in any other suitable manner. The outer surfaces of theseparts of the inside shells A A of the body portions B and G, and theinside shells E of the legs I) D are then covered, either by dipping orpainting it thereon, with an adhesive fluid, preferably compounded ofsilicate of soda, glue water, and alum water compounded in substantiallythe following proportions, viz one poundeach of alum and glue; one halfgallon of silicate of soda; and one gallon of water. I then place uponthe sticky surface so formed, as much mineral wool or asbestos wool, aswill adhere thereto. I then saturate this woolly surface with saidcompound of silicate of soda, glue water, and alum water, and dustthereon a coating of fine, clean wood saw-dust, or other suitablegranulated material. Each of said sections B, C, O and the legs D D, arethen preferably placed in suitable molds having suitable insideconfigurations and pressed into shape and removed therefrom and allowedto dry and harden. To prevent this covering sticking to the mold Ipreferably place a layer of thin cloth in the mold before each part ofthe image is placed therein, which cloth can be quickly removed from theoutside surface of the part after it is removed from the mold. The legsD are then secured to the rear body sections B and the legs D aresecured to the front body section C, after which the body sections B andC are secured together by means of the flanged annular joint G so as tocomplete the structure. The annular joint G and the joints where thelegs D and D connect with the body B-C are then puttied up with a puttyformed of material such as fine saw-dust and silicate of soda, andsmoothed down to correspond with the remainder of the body and legcovering, after which the whole structure can be painted or otherwisedecorated as may be desired. In this manner I am enabled to make ahollow image, or other article, so that the entire shell including thefinal covering and fin ished surface is approximately one fourth of aninch in thickness, and thereby I secure an article of very light Weight,yet very strong and serviceabl It is manifest that in making many formsof hollow articles, some of the details of construction herein describedmay be omitted, for example, the making of the body in sections tofacilitate the securing of the legs thereto, as the body can with equalconvenience be made without the central annular joint and in lieuthereof openings left in the surface of the body through which accesscan be had to the inside leg fastenings, or the legs may be fastened tothe body by outwise fastenings entirely.

Therefore what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent isz;

1. The process of making hollow images and other hollow articlesconsisting substantially of forming up an inside shell of suitablematerial, coating the same with a sticky adherent fluid material,placing a coating of mineral wool thereon, then saturating the same withsaid sticky fiuid material, then covering the same with a coating ofgranulated material and pressing the same in a mold, substantially asset forth.

2. The process of making hollow images and other hollow articlesconsisting of forming up an inside shell in sections, covering thesurface of said shell-sections with an adhesive fluid, applying mineralor asbestos wool thereto, saturating said wool with an adhesive fluid,applying granulated material to said surface, pressing said sections inmolds to shape the surfaces thereof, and securing said sectionstogether, substantially as set forth.

3. The process of making hollow images and other hollow articlesconsisting substantially of forming up an inside shell or metal,covering the surface thereof with an adhesive mixture of silicate orsoda, glue-water and alum-water, placing mineral or asbestos woolthereon, saturating the same with adhesive mixture, coating the surfacethereof with granulated material, and inserting the same into molds toshape the surface thereof, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

ALFRED THOMPSON. lVitnesses H. M. STURGEON, WILLIAM E. Hm'rs.

